This City Was Just Declared the Least Walkable Destination in the World — but There’s an Amazing Alternative Way to Explore

While wandering through charming, winding streets is typically a great way to discover a new place, sometimes the terrain can be too challenging for comfortable exploration. (Take it from me, living in Lisbon, famous for its seven hills.) Yet, a low walk score doesn’t diminish the appeal of a destination. You just need to think outside the box — especially when considering a certain city in Bolivia, recently dubbed the least walkable city worldwide. 

In July, All Clear Travel Insurance published its rankings of the most and least walkable cities around the globe. They assessed 242 destinations, ensuring that cities known for being particularly hilly or flat were included. Using data from topographic-map.com, they calculated the cities with the lowest overall elevations and smallest elevation ranges, normalizing these values to assign a "walking difficulty" score out of 100.

After crunching the numbers, the team identified La Paz, Bolivia's capital, as the least walkable city on Earth, earning a difficulty score of 99.6 out of 100. 

"With the highest difficulty rating in our research, La Paz in Bolivia presents stunning views of the Andes, but as one of the highest capital cities globally (3,650 meters up), it promises a serious leg workout," the report stated. "Nestled in a valley and built on steep slopes, traversing the city on foot can be quite challenging, particularly for long distances or for individuals with mobility concerns." 

If you're worried about walking too much, fear not! There are plenty of exciting ways to explore the city without breaking a sweat. Notably, it boasts a renowned cable car system, known as Mi Teleférico, which glides above the city, offering stunning aerial views of the vibrant neighborhoods and direct access to key attractions. Operating at 13,000 ft above sea level, it holds the title of the highest cable car in the world. Fares start at just 3 bolivianos, or around 50 cents. (Keep in mind, this isn't just a tourist ride; locals also use it for daily commutes, so it can get quite busy.) 

La Paz is closely followed by two other challenging cities worth exploring: Bogotá, Colombia, with a score of 94.5, and Quito, Ecuador, at 94.4. Despite their difficulty, these destinations are definitely worth the effort, or at least having a backup transportation plan.

Check out the complete rankings of the least and most walkable destinations at allcleartravel.co.uk.